Buster Keaton: The Man Who Wouldn’t Lie Down
Tom Dardis
1979; Penguin
This is an entertaining biography of Buster Keaton, from his vaudeville childhood to his peak in the 1920s, then to obscurity and re-appraisal as a genius in his twilight years. Perhaps this book lags in documenting his triumphant comeback in the 1950s and 60s, as well as critiques of his films. The General, The Navigator and The Cameraman are explored thoroughly, because they were the Keaton films to make a lot of money. The General of course gets the full treatment, as that is regarded as his masterpiece. However, more adventurous pictures like Sherlock Jr. and Seven Chances (which are my favourites) barely rate a mention.
There is an honest account of Buster’s personal life, too. His alcoholism is written about with no punches spared — he was drinking far too heavily in the 1920s when he made all his films as actor-director; this addiction severely cramped his much-needed athletic abilities. Also interesting is the straightforward documentation of Keaton’s womanizing. He was married to Natalie Talmadge, she of the three sisters in the prestigious Talmadge acting family, who were huge in the silent era. After she bore him children, she refused any further sexual activity with her husband… at the orders of her mother! This propagated Buster’s numerous extramarital escapades. Because of the persistent stone face in his pictures, one easily overlooks that he was a dashing man, so he had little difficulty in finding sexual conquests.
The first two dozen or so pages are hard to read, because a young Buster’s getting knocked about on stage was really little more than professional child abuse. But these moments are some of the many turbulent ones that are plainly detailed within. This book may not offer much insight into Keaton’s genius, nor critiques of his art, but it is an absorbing look at the life of the great comedian.
Originally presented in Vol. #1, Issue #7.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.